Pound Climbs on House Prices, Optimism

The U.K. currency profited today from an increase in the nation’s house prices, fueling even further speculations that the recession might be ending in Britain, attracting investors to purchase pound-priced assets in a day of bullish equities markets in London.

In a day of predominant risk appetite as commodities and equities advanced in the U.K., the pound profited from an optimistic scenario in the country as Rightmove Plc, a leading British real estate website, indicated that house prices increased last month, adding evidences for speculations that Bank of England‘s current asset purchase program may expire next month and not be extended further, which would certainly allow the pound to climb in foreign-exchange markets. The euro posted a slight decline versus the sterling as traders remained skeptical regarding Greece’s budget deficit and the European Central Bank‘s capability of rescuing the Southern European nation from a financial collapse.

Several analysts believe that the pound may outperform multiple key-currencies in foreign-exchange markets this year, as the recession fades away and according to some speculations, the country’s currency would be undervalued. If positive data continues to be published the pound may experience a sharp rally, specially versus a less attractive euro in the following weeks.

EUR/GBP traded at 0.8803 as of 16:14 GMT from an opening rate of 0.8821 when markets opened yesterday. GBP/USD climbed to 1.6333 from 1.6258.

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